Kent Farrington and Voyeur top $400,000 Pan American Cup, presented by Rolex

Kent Farrington (USA) and Amalaya Investments’ Voyeur concluded the Spruce Meadows ‘Pan American’ Tournament CSI 5*, presented by Rolex, with a masterful win Sunday. Competing in the $400,000 Pan American Cup, presented by Rolex, competition ended impressively as the three highest ranked American riders in the world claimed top honors. With Farrington leading the way, Beezie Madden (USA) finished second aboard Abigail Wexner’s Simon, and McLain Ward (USA) placed third riding Sagamore Farm’s Rothchild.

Thirty-three entries contested course designer Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA) first round track, with nine combinations earning the chance to jump-off, and five clear rounds over the short course.

Colombia’s Roberto Teran set the standard in the jump-off aboard ARK Partners LLC’s Arkos des Rosiers Z, clear in 42.36 seconds, to eventually fifth. Charlie Jayne (USA) and Alex R. Jayne’s Chill R Z immediately upped the pace, finishing with a time of 39.56 seconds to earn the fourth place prize.

Ward jumped the next clear, and easily took the lead with his remarkable partner, Rothchild, in 38.98 seconds. The lead quickly changed hands, however, as Farrington and Voyeur blasted through the course in 36.71 seconds. Last to go, Madden and Simon jumped into second with their time of 38.09 seconds.

Rich Fellers (USA) and Harry and Mollie Chapman’s Flexible clocked in at 38.14 seconds, but brought down the final fence to place sixth with the fastest four-fault round.

Kent Farrington and Voyeur en route to victory at Spruce Meadows.

Farrington won the same competition in 2014 aboard RCG Farm’s Uceko and was back this time aboard the talented Voyeur, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Tolano van’t Riethof x Goodwill).

Farrington and Voyeur most recently won the $400,000 RBC Grand Prix, presented by Rolex, during June’s ‘National’ Tournament and have been on a hot streak all season. On Sunday, the pair sprinted easily through the jump-off course to secure a substantial margin of victory.

“I had the advantage in the jump-off today of going after McLain,” Farrington noted. “He is one of the most competitive riders in the world, and we always have a good rivalry between us, so I got to watch him go. Unfortunately, coming after me was one of my other rivals, also one of the best in the world (Beezie Madden). It was a tough day of sport today and I thought my horse was fantastic.”

“My horse has a huge gallop,” Farrington commented on his jump-off. “Between the second and third fence I think I did one less stride than everybody else in the competition. The rest of it, I just kind of stayed on the same pace. He has a monster gallop, and he is naturally fast across the ground anyway and that is a big advantage in a field like that.”

In the first course, Voyeur was exceptionally strong and caused Farrington to adjust his ride to accomplish the clear round.

“When he is very fresh and he is really jumping, the downside is that he gets really strong,” Farrington explained. “He jumped out of the double really high, and coming towards the gate he got very strong with me. I had to do an extra stride that I did not plan on. It was a bit more work than I was expecting, but he pulled it off.”

Beezie Madden and Simon were seconds.

Madden worked hard for her clear round as well, as Simon was also extra strong throughout the first round. In the jump-off, she then rode the plan that she knew was best for her horse.

“He was actually a little stronger than usual today,” Madden detailed. “I don’t know that I have ever shown him this many weeks in a big field, so I think it is catching up with me a little bit, but the good part about him is you get him to the jump even within range and he tries his heart out to make it over.”

“When I have him in a jump-off, I almost don’t watch the others because I want to just stick to my plan and do what I know I can do,” Madden added. “I have some limitations with how much I can let him out of the bag, but he is surprisingly fast anyway.”

Ward and Rothchild are always ones to watch in the jump-off, and they did not disappoint, with a fantastic clear round to land in third place. It had rained most of the day and throughout the competition, and Ward noted that the conditions were not ideal for ‘Bongo.’

“I was thrilled with Bongo. He has had two great competitions here building up to the Pan American Games,” the rider remarked. “Traditionally, he has not been great in the wet going. The footing was actually very good considering the amount of rain we had, but that has always been an uncomfortable type ground for him.”

“To be frank, that was the round I could do today in that situation,” Ward said of his jump-off. “I would never have been able to beat Kent with his horse’s stride. It was one of those rounds that Kent does where the day is over basically. I felt with the Pan Am Games coming, and with the conditions, that was the right round to do and I am just thrilled with his performance. He came here, he did two grand prixs and jumped two double clears, so I can’t really be too upset with that.”

Third place went to McLain Ward and Rothchild.

Ward explained where he left the door open with his time, specifically two strides that could have made a difference, stating, “I did one too many rolling back on the double. I was a little bit worried about the vertical coming in because he (Rothchild) will cut right on you. For sure to the last jump, I knew both Beezie and Kent could do one less stride. In the wetter going, he does not cover the ground quite as well as he would when it is firm, but even leaving out those two strides I could never have caught Kent. It was a pretty significant margin.”

For Farrington, course designer Guilherme Jorge did a good job with the conditions he was dealt.
“We didn’t know how much rain there was going to be or how wet the ground was going to be,” Farrington stated. “It was probably a more technical course today than size. It was a little generous with the time allowed, but I think that he took into account the rain and the wet ground, so I think that was a smart play for today. It was better to have a couple extra clear rather than having us go ripping around the ring when it was really wet in the first round. I think that was a good strategy, and if you look at the top three finishers, those are the top three horses a lot of places in the world.”

Jorge, agreed, noting, “The idea with the time allowed was exactly that. We didn’t know how much rain we would still have during the competition, so we didn’t want to press too much on that. I still think that nine is an okay number for a jump-off. It is a little bit more than we are used to here at Spruce Meadows, but the quality was still very good and like Kent said, the top three are top three anywhere in the world.”

With a fantastic Summer Series under their belts, Farrington and Ward are now off to Toronto where they will compete in the 2015 Pan American Games. Ward will pilot Rothchild in the Games, while Farrington will jump up-and-coming talent, Gazelle. Madden is on her way to Europe for the rest of the summer.